The invention relates to a remote operated vehicle (ROV), more specifically to a graphical user interface (GUI) for a ROV.
ROVs have been used widely for industrial applications, such as for the oil industry, and for oceanographic research, for example for studies of seabed flora and fauna.
ROVs are typically designed and made as individual units, or produced in very small numbers, with specific projects in mind. Often the ROV is an expensive piece of capital equipment which cannot be replaced without remanufacture. The pilot of an ROV is usually a highly skilled worker who's job it is to drive the ROV. The pilot will have responsibility for flying the ROV for the duration of a mission, which may typically be one or more days or weeks on board an ocean-going research or survey vessel. Consequently very little regard is had in conventional ROV design to aspects such as ease of use, since the pilot will be able to devote a large amount of study time and practice time in order to become highly proficient in flying the ROV.
The present invention takes as its starting point the position of a ROV for leisure use which has a built-in video camera for transmitting real-time video footage back to the pilot.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows a proposed ROV system for the leisure market comprising a handset 16 (remote hand controller), a control computer 18 with associated display 20 and custom hardware and software, a fish 10 (the ROV) and an umbilical cable 14 interconnecting the topside control computer 18 and fish 10. The umbilical cable 14 carries a video signal from the fish 10 to the control computer 18 for representation on the display 20.
By contrast to an ROV for industrial or research use, an ROV for leisure use will need to be easy to use. As a consumer product, the user will not want to have to undergo intensive self-training or expert tuition in order to be able to fly the ROV competently. The consumer will wish simply to buy or hire the ROV and then use it with the minimum of fuss. The design must make steering stable and easy to perform. It must be difficult for a user to generate knots in the control cable connecting the ROV to the topside controller. The ROV itself must be designed to minimize the risk of fouling the thrusters with weeds. There are thus a number of design considerations which become much more important as soon as one envisages a ROV for the leisure market piloted by novice users.
The GUI, to which the present invention relates, is another part of the ROV design which can contribute to ease-of-use, by allowing control data to be fed back to the pilot, such as depth, direction, whether the ROV lights are turned on, on-board battery power levels and so forth. The selection of the control data supplied to the pilot, and its layout, are crucially important for a non-expert, inexperienced leisure user. At one extreme, one may consider the cockpit of an airplane, where the pilot is expert and highly trained. To a novice, the numbers of indicators and controls is bewildering. The GUI of an ROV for the leisure market must be as far away from the airplane cockpit design approach as possible.
As well as providing control data feedback, there is a more fundamental and subtle issue regarding the GUI design for a leisure-use ROV. The quality of the consumer experience will depend in large measure on how enjoyable it is to view the video footage when flying the ROV. This not only means that the control data needs to be displayed in an efficient, intuitive, non-language dependent way that does not clutter the video footage, but that the GUI must be designed in a way that enhances, rather than compromises, the user's enjoyment of the underwater environment, as perceived through the real-time (or played back) video footage from the ROV.